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TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY 



Hon. ROGER MINOTT SHERMAN, 



BEING THE 



DISCOURSE PREACHED AT HIS FUNERAL, 



January 2, 1845. 



LYMAN H. ATWATER, 

PASTOR OF THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH IN FAIRFIELD. 




NEW HAVEN: 

PRINTED BY B. L. HAMLEN, 



1845. 



DISCOURSE. 



1 Corinthians, xv, 55. — O death ! where is thy sting ? O grave ! 
where is thy victory ? 

This triumphant ejaculation, which Christ hath made 
the property of all dying believers, implies that death may 
lose its sting and the grave its victory. And whence 
comes this change in the issue of the conflict which man 
is ever waging with death, and in which death is the natu- 
ral conqueror ? How shall we account for this transmuta- 
tion so strange, so wondrous, so heavenly, by which this 
most resistless, relentless, unsparing conqueror, is itself 
made to die, is swallowed up in victory, and at the very 
moment of seeming to crush its victim, translates him to an 
endless life, gilds him with fadeless glory, transports him 
w 7 ith the fullness of joy evermore, and crowns him with an 
immortal diadem ? 

Our answer is found in that record w r hich God hath 
given of his Son, who hath brought life and immortality to 
light. "Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory 
through our Lord Jesus Christ," who has made the sublime 
annunciation on which all human hope depends. "I am 

THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE ; WHOSO BELIEVETH 
ON ME, THOUGH HE WERE DEAD, YET SHALL HE LIVE." 

Since then, death, through the wondrous work of Christ, 
may be disarmed of its sting, and the grave robbed of its 
victory, let us for a few moments consider more precisely 



in what way, to what extent, and with respect to what per- 
sons, this comes to pass. 

1. In the verse following our text, the Apostle declares, 
" the sting of death is sin ; and the strength of sin is the 
law." Hence it is something wholly distinct from the mere 
physical pangs of expiring nature, or the instinctive dread 
and abhorrence of its own dissolution which it ever cher- 
ishes. This dread of self-annihilation is a property of life 
itself, which is in its very nature a ceaseless effort to be, 
and to avoid non-existence. Irrespective of sin or holi- 
ness, penalty or rewards, whether the death of the body 
be, or be not regarded as the only and certain passage to a 
perfect and blissful state of existence, it is in itself what we 
instinctively dread and shun. Like pain, we avoid it if 
possible. We never choose it as in the least desirable for 
its own sake ; although w T e may cheerfully submit to it as 
we submit to bitter drugs and burning caustic, because 
without it, we cannot escape the pains of earth, or reach 
the bliss of heaven. In this light the Christian may desire 
death, because to die is gain, and he desires to depart and 
be with Christ which is far better : but not because it is in 
itself lovely, or otherwise than grim, ghastly and terrific. 
This natural aversion to the physical pangs of death, there- 
fore, is not its sting, since it is a part of our sentient nature, 
and still cleaves to Christians as to others. 

But the sting of death is sin, i. e. the violation of the 
law of God and consequent subjection to its tremendous 
penalties. Thus " the law is the strength of sin," so far 
forth as it is a sting. Now death is the penalty of sin, its 
wages, " it passed upon all men for that all have sinned ;" 
even death temporal and death eternal, the death of the 
body and the death of the soul. And unless its nature and 
power as a penalty be annulled by faith in him who con- 



quered it, the sting of death lies in this, that it is not merely 
a natural but a penal evil, not the mere dissolution of the 
body, but the entrance of the soul upon the merited woes 
of the second death ; not the mere end of life, but a transfer 
to the pains of eternal retribution. It is the law, the vio- 
lated, threatening, immutable law, that invests sin with this 
fearful power. Viewed in this light, the only light possible 
out of Christ, death indeed has its sting, which no tongue 
can tell or mind conceive. 

We see then how this sting is removed by Christ. He 
took it upon himself. Sin is its cause. He bore our sins, 
was made under the law, became a curse, suffered and 
died, the just for the unjust. He thus discharges the de- 
mands of the law against the believing. What then if the 
wages of sin is death ; is not " the gift of God eternal life 
through our Lord Jesus Christ?" What though death in 
its original nature, be the first, stinging, insupportable stroke 
of God's wrath revealed from heaven against all unright- 
eousness? We are delivered from the body, the sub- 
stance, the sting of this death, thanks be to God, through 
our Lord Jesus Christ. " His blood cleanseth from all sin." 
Whoso believeth on him " shall not come into condemna- 
tion, but is passed from death unto life," for he is " not un- 
der law but under grace." 

2. Let us consider briefly the extent of this deliverance. 
It is perfect. It is co-extensive with sin and all its dismal 
fruits ; if sin abounds, grace doth much more abound. 
The destruction of sin, involves the removal of all its dire- 
ful effects, the whole ghastly retinue which it brings with it. 
Christ the second Adam restores us to the primeval per- 
fection, glory and bliss, which we lost by the apostacy of 
the first Adam. The parts of this restoration are success- 
ive and gradual, so that it is not wholly consummated, till 



the body is raised and glorified at the last day. But it is 
wholly and forever secured by the first act of true faith. 
For we are "justified by faith." And whom God justifies, 
them he also glorifies, and none shall be able to separate 
them from his love or pluck them out of his hands. With 
respect to the condemning or penal power of sin, deliver- 
ance is perfect at the moment of our union to Christ by 
faith, and ever afterward : for there is " no more condemna- 
tion to them which are in Christ Jesus." Whatever sor- 
rows, sufferings or calamities visit the believer, they are not 
a part of the curse and penalty of the law. They are 
chastisements sent in fatherly love and faithfulness, and not 
in vengeance ; not willingly, but for our profit ; for the very 
purpose of promoting our deliverance from sin. As to sin 
itself, at the new birth, it receives a mortal blow, by being 
subjected to a reigning principle of holiness, which is then 
born into life, and is ever waxing stronger and stronger 
until death, when it extirpates the last remnant of sin, and 
the spirits of the just are made perfect in holiness. Al- 
though ever dying, sin is never perfectly extinct in this life ; 
it is the heaviest burthen under which the believer groans 
in this tabernacle ; its end is the sweetest part of the deliv- 
erance which death brings with itself. With respect to the 
body, it is not freed from the pains and infirmities in this 
life, which belong to its frail and perishing nature. Nor 
does it escape death. It is not renovated and glorified till 
the last day, when the archangel's trump shall wake from 
the grave its slumbering tenantry, the dead shall be raised 
incorruptible and we shall be changed ; " our vile bodies 
fashioned like unto Christ's glorious body, according to the 
working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto 
himself." But at death it sleeps in Jesus. Its pains are 
forever ended. The disembodied spirit is already glorified 



with Christ in Paradise, awaiting its reunion to the glorified 
body. Thus death has lost its whole sting : nay, it is the 
birth-throe of an endless, glorious and blissful life. There 
the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest, 
undisturbed by the slightest annoying sensation. They 
shall hunger no more and thirst no more, and God shall 
wipe away all tears from their eyes. " Blessed are the 
dead that die in the Lord from henceforth, yea, saith the 
Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, their works do 
follow them." 

3. And who receive this stupendous deliverance? To 
whom rightly belongs this strangely rapturous outburst, 
which sheds a halo of glory even over sepulchral darkness 1 
I answer to those who die in the Lord ; i. e. to those who 
are joined to Christ by a living union. This union is con- 
stituted by faith, which lays hold of and rests upon Christ 
as he is offered to us in the gospel, and gives us an interest 
and participation in all the benefits of his salvation. " He 
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" — he shall 
not perish or come into condemnation. The just are saved 
by faith through grace — they walk by faith — they live by 
faith, and overcome and triumph by faith. Without this 
faith it is impossible to please God. Unbelief is a rejec- 
tion of Christ ; he that believeth not is condemned al- 
ready. 

But since there are divers sorts of faith on which men 

4 

rely for an interest in this inestimable boon, we must dis- 
tinguish that which is dead and spurious, from that which 
is living and genuine. Omitting much that might be said 
on this topic, I will only observe that true and saving faith 
shows itself in correspondent works, in a life of holy, con- 
scientious obedience to all the requirements of God. With- 
out such works, faith is declared by the Apostle to be dead. 



8 

Ye are my friends, says Christ, if ye do whatsoever I 
command you. And any other faith than that which leads 
us to walk in all the commands and ordinances of the Lord 
blameless, gives no warrant for the triumphant exclamation, 
" death, where is thy sting ! grave, where is thy vic- 
tory !" But he that truly belie veth, though he were dead, 
yet shall he live, and in his dying moments may with 
truth adopt the words of Simeon : "Lord, now lettest thou 
thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for 
mine eyes have seen thy salvation." 

The full and well-founded conviction that death has lost 
its sting and the grave its victory, with respect to our de- 
ceased, beloved and revered friend, whose breathless body 
now lies before us, chiefly assuages the grief produced by 
this melancholy dispensation of divine Providence. It has 
diffused a sensation of gloom, as wide-spread as his hon- 
orable fame. But we sorrow not as those without hope. 
He ended a consistent and exemplary Christian life, with 
a serene and peaceful death. After a life in which his 
piety had been known by its fruits, and when the signs of 
death w r ere stealing upon him with an unexpected and 
surprising rapidity, he assured me that in the prospect of a 
speedy dissolution, he felt supported by the consolations of 
that gospel he had long professed, and that he rested 
calmly on that Savior, who had ever been, and now seemed 
peculiarly, his only hope. And when the dying hour 
came, he seemed free not only from the mental sting, but 
the physical agonies of death. There was not a pang, not 
a struggle, not even a motion of a muscle, beyond the 
mere gasp of expiring nature. So wholly had death lost 
its sting. It was good to be there notwithstanding the 
gloom : to see the venerable servant of God calmly and 
placidly falling asleep in Jesus, "quite on the verge of 



heaven." " Mark the perfect man, behold the upright, for 
the end of that man is peace." 

It is due to the occasion, to present such a sketch of his 
life and character as the time will permit. 

The Hon. Roger Minott Sherman was born at Woburn, 
Mass., May 22, 1773, and was the youngest of six children 
of Rev. Josiah Sherman, then the Congregational minister 
of that place. His father was in the fourth line of descent 
from Captain John Sherman, who emigrated from Ded- 
ham, in England, to Watertovvn, Mass., about the year 
1635. He was brother to the Hon. Roger Sherman, who 
was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, 
and raised himself from a humble condition to a celebrity 
for statesmanship, that brightens with the lapse of time. 
The mother of Judge Sherman was Martha, daughter of 
the Hon. James Minott, of Concord, Mass., one of the dis- 
tinguished men of his time, and in the fourth line of de- 
scent from George Minott, who was born in England, was 
one of the first settlers of Dorchester, Mass., and a ruling 
elder in the church in that place thirty years. Owing to 
the disturbances produced by the Revolution, Judge Sher- 
man's father removed in 1775 to Milford, in this state, and 
was for some time pastor of the second church in that 
town. He thence removed to Goshen in this state, and 
was pastor of the church in that place several years. 
He finally removed to Woodbridge, near New Haven, 
where he preached the remainder of his life, and now lies 
buried. Of his children, the four oldest were daughters, 
the two youngest sons. They are all now dead, Judge 
Sherman having been the last survivor. 

In 1789, at the age of sixteen, Mr. Sherman entered 
the Sophomore class in Yale College. Six weeks after- 
wards his father died, leaving no property, since his in- 

2 



10 

come, like that of most ministers, had been barely equal to 
his current expenses. He was thus deprived of the means 
on which he had relied for defraying his college expenses. 
But by the kindness of his uncle,* who received him into 
his family and rendered him other important aid, together 
with his own exertions, he was enabled to go through the 
academic course. He kept a school in New Haven du- 
ring a considerable portion of his two last college years, 
and at the same time attended regularly all the exer- 
cises of his class, and graduated with a high standing. 
He then took an academy in Windsor, and commenced 
the study of law under the Hon. Oliver Ellsworth. He 
afterwards took a common school in Litchfield, and con- 
tinued the study of law under the Hon. Tapping Reeve. 
In March, 1795, he was appointed a tutor in Yale College, 
and instructed the class that graduated in 1797, at the 
same time pursuing his professional studies under the Hon. 
Simeon Baldwin, who still outlives his pupil, and is here 
to attend his burial. In his own class in college were 
several distinguished men. The class which he instructed 
also numbers several eminent names. In the office of 
tutor he was peculiarly successful. Instead of relying on 
official authority or magisterial airs to gain an ascendency 
over his pupils, he rather won their respect and esteem 
by the ability and faithfulness of his instructions, the be- 
nignity of his manners, and the justness of his discipline. 
His extraordinary power of disentangling the intricate, 
mastering the profound, and making the obscure plain, 
combined with a rare faculty of expression, must have 
rendered him a most able and brilliant instructor. 

After holding this office somewhat more than a year, he 
resigned it, and in May, 1796, was admitted to the bar in 

* Hon. Roger Sherman. 



11 

New Haven. He then established himself as a practicing 
lawyer at Norwalk. On Dec. 13, of the same year, he 
was married to Miss Elizabeth Gould, daughter of Dr. 
Wm. Gould, then of New Haven, previously of Branford, 
sister of the late Judge Gould of Litchfield, who after a 
happy conjugal union of forty eight years, near half a 
century, is still spared to mourn his loss. They had but 
two children, twin sons of high promise ; but by an in- 
scrutable Providence they were cut down, and as we trust, 
are sleeping in Jesus. In 1807 he removed to this place, 
where he has since resided for a term of near forty years ; 
and has become so identified with all our social and public 
interests, that there is no sphere in which his loss will not 
be deeply and intensely felt. 

Mr. Sherman had not long pursued the practice of law, 
before his powerful intellect and untiring industry raised 
him to that high eminence in his profession, of which he 
had already given promise. He realized the most san- 
guine anticipations of his friends. As a jurist he had few 
equals, and scarcely a superior in the country. While he 
most excelled in handling abstruse, mazy questions of 
law, he maintained the very first rank in whatever belongs 
to his profession. His legal knowledge, his logical skill, 
his high persuasive powers, his commanding eloquence, 
his unwearied industry, his faithfulness to his clients, gave 
him the highest success and celebrity in every department 
of legal practice, attracted to him an overflowing business 
in this and other counties of the state, and often led to a 
demand for his services in great cases in other states. 
Seldom does the bar suffer the loss of so distinguished an 
ornament. 

From 1814 to IS 18 Mr. Sherman was a member of the 
upper branch of our state legislature, in which he distin- 



12 

guished himself by his thorough knowledge of the laws, 
policy and institutions of the state, his mastery of all sub- 
jects under discussion, his high power in debate, his assid- 
uous attention to business, his patriotic devotion to the 
welfare of the people. Though among the younger mem- 
bers, he rose rapidly to an ascendant influence. 

In 1814, he was chosen by the legislature of this state 
a delegate to the convention of the New England states, 
assembled at Hartford, for the purpose of devising meas- 
ures suited to the exigency into which they were brought 
by the war. This is not the time nor the place to discuss 
the merits of that convention. This however is undenia- 
ble, that New England sent to it her choicest, most gifted, 
trusted, and honored statesmen ; and that whatever im- 
partial history may say of the wisdom of the movement, it 
will pronounce their intentions pure and patriotic. It is 
proof of the estimation in which Mr. Sherman was already 
held, that he was selected to bear responsibilities which 
New England would confide to none but her most tried 
and able men. In this galaxy of eminent statesmen he 
shone as elsewhere with his own peculiar lustre. Of the 
nature, objects, and doings of the convention, he has given 
a detailed account as a witness in court, under the re- 
sponsibilities of an oath, which has been published to the 
world. 

From 1818 to 1839 he was almost wholly devoted to 
his profession, and held no public office, except that he 
was occasionally a representative of his own town in the 
legislature. He was not however without interest in, or 
influence upon, the legislation of the state. He originated 
and drafted many important laws, which have become 
inwrought into her fixed policy. Most of these have ref- 
erence to the administration of justice ; tend to abridge 



13 

the cost and delay involved in vindicating our rights at 
law ; and to abolish cumbrous formalities, which defeat or 
embarrass the attainment of justice. 

In 1839, he was chosen Judge of the Superior Court, 
and Associate Judge of the Supreme Court for the revis- 
ion of errors in this state. This station he was preemi- 
nently fitted to adorn. He brought to it rare legal learning, 
logical acumen, expertness in the practice of law, unbend- 
ing integrity, untiring industry, a commanding person, a 
dignified and courteous address. I need not say that he 
filled the office with honor to himself and advantage to the 
state. His written opinions in the Court of Errors, pub- 
lished in the thirteenth and fourteenth volumes of the Con- 
necticut Reports, will speak for themselves ; and, alas ! are 
the most important monuments of his great intellect which 
he has left to posterity. In May, 1842, he resigned this 
office, on account of ill health. Since that period, he has 
passed his time chiefly in domestic retirement, as increasing 
infirmities have increased his need of those genial supports 
and solaces which can only be found in the bosom of home. 
While his body has been gradually giving way, his intellect 
has wonderfully retained its pristine clearness, vigor and 
elasticity. It has scarcely been affected by the decays of 
age. To the last, so far as he had the power of articula- 
tion, his mind appeared to seize all subjects that came 
before it, with its wonted grasp. After a short illness, 
which reduced him more rapidly than the worst fears of 
his friends, he died, Dec. 30, 1844, at the age of seventy 
one years and seven months. 

I will now attempt a brief delineation of his character. 

His intellect, as has been already implied, was naturally 
of extraordinary power, invigorated by thorough discipline, 
sharpened by constant exercise, well stored by laborious 



14 

research, and polished to a classical finish by the study of 
the finest models. To these high inward endowments, he 
added a noble person, a voice of uncommon compass, 
clearness and melody, a free and graceful elocution. Hence 
he was not only a powerful reasoner, but a powerful orator. 
His mind was clear, capacious, discriminating, comprehen- 
sive. Nor was it fitful in its vigor, now breaking forth in 
meteoric brilliancy, and then sinking into dullness and in- 
dolence; but it had an iron patience and perseverance, 
and was ever active, ever buoyant. This trait it possessed 
in a most extraordinary degree. It never seemed to flag 
or shrink from exertion, or lose its elastic vigor under any 
degree of bodily exhaustion or pain. There was no web 
of sophistry, no covert flaw or labyrinthine maze in an op- 
ponent's argument, which it would not readily detect and 
expose. And in constructing a positive argument, his 
method was logical and direct. Starting with some princi- 
ple or fact which none could dispute, he would evolve from 
it link after link, till the conclusion which he sought to es- 
tablish, before it was looked for, seemed fastened as by an 
adamantine chain. Above all, his mind loved clearness, 
and abhorred all obscurity and mist. He delighted to make 
things plain himself, and was impatient of all transcendental 
and dreamy speculations in others. He had great confi- 
dence in the power of truth and argument, and that what 
he felt to be true himself, he could make appear so to oth- 
ers. This gave an ardor and enthusiasm to his pleas, 
which was one great cause of his success. Nor were his 
studies and attainments exclusively professional. He was 
largely furnished with liberal knowledge. He was well 
versed in theology and metaphysics, and peculiarly fond of 
the exact and natural sciences. He was familiar with the 
science of government and political economy, and whatever 



15 

it most concerns a statesman to know. Nor did he neg- 
lect elegant literature. This various knowledge he made 
tributary to his profession, in cases that could be illustrated 
by it, and sometimes astonished and delighted his auditors, 
as he poured forth its treasures. 

But our venerable friend and brother was not only a 
great, he was also a good man : good, not merely accord- 
ing to the standard of worldly and fashionable virtue, but 
according to the Christian and evangelical code. His ex- 
traordinary gifts and endowments, the great fame and in- 
fluence which they won for him, were strictly subordinated 
to moral and religious principle. " What things were gain 
to him, those he counted loss for Christ : yea, doubtless, 
and he counted all things but loss for the excellency of the 
knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord." 

He united with the church of Christ in Yale College at 
the age of twenty two, when he was tutor, and for nearly 
half a century has adorned the doctrine he then professed. 
As to his religious principles, they were those of our Pil- 
grim Fathers, in which he had been educated. He loved 
and revered the Puritan doctrine and the Puritan character. 
Nor did he adopt his principles merely from traditional 
authority or hereditary attachment. His great mind could 
receive nothing for truth, without inquiry and evidence. So 
thorough had this investigation been on his part, that there 
were few abler theologians than he, even among the clergy. 
Hence he was intelligent, earnest and steadfast in his reli- 
gious opinions. Without bigotry, with the most catholic 
spirit, with hearty love for all of every name who love the 
Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, he was himself a Congrega- 
tionalist and a Calvinist of the school of Edwards, Dwight 
and Scott. These views he adopted because he believed 
them to be taught in the Scriptures, and to accord with his 



16 

own religious experience. He felt that by the grace of 
God he was what he was. He was a man of prayer ; and 
he prayed with all prayer, in the closet, the family, and the 
Christian assembly. He had great confidence in its effi- 
cacy, and believed the promises made to it. 

He was clothed with humility, that most fundamental of 
Christian virtues. Indeed his modest, unassuming, unob- 
trusive spirit and manner, impressed all who became ac- 
quainted with him ; it made his greatness still greater, and 
lent to it its peculiar charm, its crowning glory. 

He maintained the strictest integrity and uprightness in 
all his public, private and professional transactions. He 
scrupulously adhered to truth, fulfilled his promises, ab- 
stained from any which he could not fulfill, would not sell 
his conscience for office or emolument, and discouraged 
what seemed to him to be groundless litigation. 

He was remarkably kind and benevolent in his dispo- 
sition, and free from the malevolent passions. He was 
mild, courteous, and benignant in his deportment, com- 
passionate and tender towards the unfortunate and dis- 
tressed, condescending and affable to all — not appalling 
even the humblest. He lent a charm and a dignity to the 
society in which he moved — of which he was always 
fond — which he illuminated and enlivened by his capa- 
cious mind and his high conversational powers. Nor will 
it be deemed an improper invasion of the sacredness of 
domestic grief, if I say, that he was a model of parental 
and conjugal love, tenderness and fidelity. 

Mr. Sherman always cherished the strongest interest in 
promoting the cause of pure religion and sound morals. 
He gave to it the benefit of his extended influence, his 
persuasive powers, his liberal contributions. The cause 
of evangelical missions received his ardent and constant 



17 

support. He plead with great frequency and eloquence 
in behalf of home missions, being persuaded that the 
welfare of our country and the permanency of its govern- 
ment, depend more on Christianizing the people than 
on the devices of statesmen. He was among the earliest 
and most powerful advocates of the temperance cause. 
He was deeply interested in the welfare of the colored 
people of this land, and their relations to the well-being of 
this country and of Africa. He believed the Colonization 
Society to be the best medium of blessing the African 
race in this country and their own. He was grieved that 
it received so feeble a support from the Christian com- 
munity. He had of late deeply interested himself in the 
cause. He had called the attention of clergymen to it, 
as he had opportunity. He was exceedingly anxious to 
attend the recent meeting of Consociation in Southport, 
for the purpose of laying the subject before the ministers 
and delegates. He had prepared himself to start; but 
found himself so ill that he was obliged to desist. From 
that time he sunk rapidly, and before the lapse of a fort- 
night, was released from all further earthly toils and 
responsibilities. 

As an upholder of good public objects, a counsellor 
and adviser in private and public affairs, Mr. Sherman 
was much resorted to from this parish, town and vicinity, 
and indeed from a still greater distance, and from wider 
spheres. In this respect his loss will be, to human view, 
irreparable. But in his own church and society, it will 
be most directly and intensely felt. They w r ere dear to 
him as the apple of his eye, for he preferred Jerusalem 
above his chief joy. He was ardently devoted to its 
peace, welfare, and enlargement. While he gave it a 
large pecuniary support ; yet this was not the most im- 

3 



18 

portant of the services he rendered to it. He was an 
invaluable counsellor. By the amenity of his temper, the 
suavity of his manners, and his persuasive eloquence, he 
gave a strong support to all important measures, and did 
much to preserve peace and unity. He delighted to attend 
and sustain all our social meetings. And when the aid of 
the brethren was needed, he was a powerful helper. In 
expounding the Scriptures and giving the word of exhorta- 
tion, he was mighty. And how shall the void be filled 1 
Of late he often expressed his grief to me, that his feeble- 
ness disabled him from attending our evening meetings. 
May his mantle fall upon his surviving brethren ! If be- 
yond the sanctuary of domestic grief, one place more than 
another feels an aching void, it is the sanctuary of God ! 
If any beyond his own desolated fireside have cause of 
weeping and lamentation, I more ! He was peculiarly 
fond of the society of ministers, and far and wide enjoyed 
their confidence and esteem. His influence and opinions 
were highly valued by them. To his own pastors he 
was ever a stay and helper, doing his utmost to promote 
their usefulness and salutary influence, as my brethren 
who have preceded me will bear me witness. And in 
these things, with which a stranger intermeddleth not, 
they alone can fully appreciate my meaning. 

For the bereaved and estimable lady, who is now sud- 
denly left solitary after having been so long cheered by 
his presence, and the helper of his joy, this occasion has 
the deepest, tenderest interest. It is our hope and prayer, 
that in this sorrowful crisis she will be supported by that 
gospel which she has so long received, and which was 
the sufficient stay of her departed husband in the still 
more trying hour of death ; and that she will be enabled 
so to improve this melancholy dispensation, that it shall 



19 

work out for her a far more exceeding and eternal weight 
of glory; and that when her summons also shall come, 
she may go to her rest as a shock of corn ready in its 
season. Great, peculiar mercies are mixed in this cup of 
affliction. Indeed, all that in the character of her be- 
reaved husband which renders his loss peculiarly great, 
is of God's peculiar mercy. 

Let me exhort this church and society, together with 
his public associates, professional brethren, and personal 
friends, particularly, and all this great assembly generally, 
to lay this dispensation to heart. It is a great, a solemn, 
a mournful event. How are the mighty fallen ! The 
fathers, where are they ? One of our strong pillars is 
shattered and torn from underneath the temple. He must 
be scarcely a man who is not softened and humbled by it. 
As human helps fail, let us go to the Lord Jehovah, in 
whom is everlasting strength. Although men die, he ever 
liveth ; and because he lives, his church shall live also, 
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Let us 
then be moved to especial and extraordinary prayer, that 
God would supply what he has taken from us. " Help, 
Lord, for the godly man ceaseth, for the faithful fail from 
among the children of men." It is exhibited as a sign of 
a degenerate and sinking race, to be unaffected by the 
deaths of God's servants. The prophet sounds the alarm, 
because the righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to 
heart. Let then those that survive, ponder these things, 
and be subdued and chastened. Let them consider, that 
to them are now passed the burdens and responsibilities 
hitherto borne by God's servants, whom he has taken to 
their eternal rest. Let them manfully, and in dependence 
upon God, meet the crisis, and discharge the high trust 
he has confided to them. Let them put their two talents 



20 

to use, and he shall give them other two. Let them come 
up to the help of the Lord, the help of the Lord against 
the mighty. And the set time to favor Zion will come, 
because his servants take pleasure in the stones and favor 
the dust thereof. 

Let me speak a word to those who are without that 
faith, and rejecters of that Savior, which were the support 
and solace of our venerated and deceased brother, in his 
dying hour. With all his vast endowments and resources, 
his possession of all worldly good to which human ambi- 
tion aspires, he counted all but loss for the excellency of 
the knowledge of Jesus Christ. He deemed man in his 
best estate to be altogether vanity. If he then dared trust 
no other foundation but Christ crucified, received by faith, 
and honored by a holy life, how shall ye escape, if 

YE NEGLECT SO GREAT A SALVATION ! 



PD 18 ji 



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